Comeback win could be costly for red-hot Leafs
Rielly leaves game with lower body injury
Auston Matthews fired the first on- ice salvo in the opening instalment of what should be lengthy Golden Horseshoe rivalry with the Buffalo Sabres’ Jack Eichel, but his Maple Leafs may have paid a painful price for the victory.
About an hour before a Matthews second- period snapshot into the top corner put the hosts ahead for good in an eventual 4-3 Leafs victory Tuesday night, top defenceman Morgan Rielly was knocked out of the game midway through the opening frame with a suspected right knee/leg injury.
While the extent of the ailment wasn’t immediately known — or at least released publicly — keep this in mind: Rielly underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Nov. 6, 2011, while he was still a junior with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Interestingly, the Leafs reached the midway mark of their season Saturday in Ottawa without having suffered any major injuries through the first 41 games. But the second half of the campaign began quite ominously Tuesday on a number of fronts.
There was the incident in which Sabres rookie winger William Carrier landed on Rielly, causing the Toronto blueliner to hobble to the dressing room. He would briefly return to the bench before disappearing into the bowels of the Air Canada Centre for the evening.
Meanwhile, Rielly’s teammates were having their own issues. A brutal Freddie Andersen giveaway led to Kyle Okposo’s opening goal, while a Evander Kane snapshot with just 33 seconds remaining in the period sent the Sabres to the dressing room in the first intermission with a 2- 0 advantage.
But a three- goal explosion by the Leafs in the second period capped by Matthews’ 22nd goal of the season erased Buffalo’s lead and gave Toronto a positive kickstart to this four- game homestand, which also includes games Thursday versus the New York Rangers, Saturday against provincial rival Ottawa and Monday versus the Calgary Flames.
James van Riemsdyk upped Toronto’s margin to 4- 2 midway through the third before Carrier scored to bring the Sabres within one. They would not get any closer.
Nazem Kadri, with his third goal in two games, and Matt Martin had the other Leafs goals while Mitch Marner chipped in with two assists, giving him seven in his past four games.
While coach Mike Babcock certainly will find some nasty warts in this Leafs victory, the win upped Toronto’s recent hot streak to 9-1-1.
Heading into the contest, the game was billed as Matthews- Eichel I in honour of the first regular season meeting between the two young American-born stars.
The Eichel-Matthews relationship, of course, has many layers to it.
They were classmates in high school while with the U. S. Development program in 2013-14 and roommates with Team USA during the 2015 world junior championships. Then, just one year after Eichel was selected second overall by the Sabres in 2015, Matthews was the top pick in the ’16 draft at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, which now serves as Eichel’s home rink.
Through it all, the two have a close friendship off the ice while being fierce competitors off it.
“You have to understand: these guys were part of 44 guys in our program who were in the same home room every day in 13- 14,” Don Granato, who coached both at the time,” said Tuesday night in a phone interview from Madison, Wis. “They went to school together, they trained together, they played together.”
Granato said there probably was a bit of “mentorship” involved when Team USA officials decided to room the younger Matthews with Eichel at the ’ 15 world juniors. Granato was an assistant coach with the Americans at the time.
Eichel and Matthews were reunited as teammates on the Young Guns team during the recent World Cup. But on Tuesday evening at the Air Canada Centre, friends became foes in a rivalry that should have some teeth for years to come.
“( Matthews) is a pretty normal guy,” Eichel said after the Sabres morning skate Tuesday. “I know him pretty well from World Cup and world juniors, spent a lot of time with him. He’s a good dude, I’m happy he’s having success ( leading the Leafs with 37 points) and I look forward to playing against him.”
Count Matthews in as part of this mutual admiration society.
“(Eichel) is a special player,” Matthews said Tuesday morning. “His stride, his skating ability and his strength ... he’s so hard to knock off the puck. He has that deceptive stride, he takes one and he’s already by you.”
Because of a high ankle sprain suffered on Oct. 12, Eichel was in civvies during Matthews first regular season matchup against the Sabres, a rare 2-1 Leafs victory in Buffalo on Nov. 3.